It was to outflank the Cassino defenders by sea and (possibly) seize Rome that Shingle was devised. With no means of outflanking the German defenders, the Allies turned to frontal assault, little realizing that the nature and duration of the fighting would match the worst experiences of the World War I western front. Although by no means the tallest of the hills, Monte Cassino with its associated abbey proved the linchpin of the German defensive system the cratered landscape and shattered dwellings added to the Axis advantage, proving impassable to Allied vehicles, and allowing only foot soldiers and mules. The Allied advance stalled along a range of hills that dominated the approach up the Liri Valley to Rome. In a landscape that was a gift to its defenders, their battle-hardened German opponents proved especially stubborn, led by energetic and able commanders. Montgomery's British Eighth Army in the east had been fought to a standstill on the Gustav Line, in difficult terrain and atrocious weather. Fifth Army on the west coast and General Bernard L. The campaign stemmed from the feeling that by winter 1943 the Allied campaign in Italy had fallen far short of expectations. In 1944 Anzio was a small fishing village on the western Italian coast thirty-five miles due south of Rome and sixty miles behind the fighting lines, which ranged west to east across the Italian alps, centered on Monte Cassino. Sixth Army Corps from the sea at Anzio, was launched in January 1944, four and a-half months before Operation Overlord in Normandy, where failure was not an option for the Anglo-American force. At the time, the consequences for the Italian campaign were grave, but it should also be borne in mind that Operation Shingle, the plan to land the U.S. Anzio has since become a byword for the near-failure of a promising amphibious landing. If good inter-Allied planning and operational clarity were the harbingers of victory in Normandy, then it is chilling to reflect that they were absent from the contemporary Allied effort in the Mediterranean.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |